I've just got back from five days in Le Marais, and I've decided I want become Parisian, s'il vous plait.

[TossDaily]

So there.

EVERYBODY looked fantastic. EVERYBODY. DP and I just sat open-mouthed in fascination. Whatever their age, they looked amazing.

So I'm sitting here on a diet, wearing an Isabel Marant jumper and frantically googling 'How to turn French.'

As far as I can tell, the rules are:

1. Be thin, despite the fact you are walking down the street at 11am gnawing a cheese and ham baguette the length of your forearm.

1. Have your hair the colour and texture of natural hair.

1. Have the most amazing skin, despite the fact you have a permanent Gauloise on the go.

1. Never get pissed and lairy, despite the fact you are having a glass of red wine with your lunch and it's Tuesday.

1. Wear shoes you can walk in.

1. Have an amazing coat.

1. Know how to tie a scarf so it looks like you have slung it on and it's just choosing to snuggle up to you because you are SO FRICKING GORGEOUS.

1. Have a pharmacy on every corner that is just an Aladdin's Cave of miraculous skincare delights for less than a tenner each.

Anyone else have any tips? Joking aside, I loved the style - the shops, ohmigod the shops! It was like I'd walked into my internet shopping history.

I could actually walk around in my biker jacket without feeling like a twat.

I want to be French. Aidez-moi.

Ideal not idea.
MrsRhod that looks great! Not sure if it would be the right shape for me.

mrsrodghilbert that jacket is beautiful but I can't wear dark grey it washes me out. The one I have is in brown, cream and red and works well with my colouring.

Love, love that jacket

Ditto! unfortunately at the moment I can't justify the price tag but in the past I would have bought it immediately That cut would really suit me.

Charcoal grey I can wear; black tends to wash me out unless I have enough skin between my face and the black (I have a lovely black velvet Nicole Farhi dress, cut on the bias that works because it has a low-ish neckline and is quite busty especially when I am squeezing into, which I won't be able to even contemplate until I have lost another stone ) I do have a black cashmere polo neck, handed down from my mother, but I wear it with a red scarf.

It comes in various colours, mine is a mid blue with bits of cream, green and brown and blue suede lapels and elbow patches. I had actually ordered a brown one and when a blue one arrived I called them to see if they'd sent me someone else's jacket but no, they had simply run out of brown tweed and sent me what they were using next. It worked out fine. Beautifully cut and fantastic quality, not mass produced. They have shops in Edinburgh and London.

Omg that jacket is gorgeous, mrshod! I can't justify it or afford it, but beautiful all the same. I have a forest Green tweed jacket I bought for a wedding 13yrs ago that I still wear, looks good with a grey furry scarf.

I wear my burgundy stole with a black, velvet jacket for evening, probably dressed down with jeans.

pretty that's how I wear black, I soften it with a necklace/scarf/cami underneath.

Style personality is just what's your style, really. What's very "you"/suits you. I struggle with very feminine or pretty pretty clothes and often feel happier "toughening" them up. So, I might wear a boho top with jeans but not a full on boho dress, if that makes sense. So it's colour palette, shapes that suit you and your inherent style to consider.

That jacket is beautiful! Oh, I should have held out for a barley baron (running joke with DH - we berate one another for having married, respectively, a penniless web developer and penniless charity worker).

I love the cut, it’s just beautiful. Imagine that with The Stole, leather gloves and a red lip. Fab.

Fortunately for my bank balance, there are none left in colours that I could wear in my size (Most browns - and that looks like one of them - wash me out). The green would've been lovely

But I'm going to bookmark that company for somewhere to send dh for Christmas present ideas look, to treat myself when I reach target (currently losing c. 1+lb a week on MN Boot Camp, so should get to target in time for my 20th wedding anniversary next May) .

The cut of the coats of that tweed site are gorgeous. Something cut like that but in a wool mix and in grey or navy or red would be perfect. So the same but different. I love the tweed coats and jackets just as they are but they wouldn’t work with what I have. That waist and the buttons on the back and the full skirts...beautiful.

Apprehensive about the stole as I don’t have anything brown other than a beige/cream coat that it might work with. Or a black leather jacket. Will have to see when it gets here. Waiting on a few parcels atm, worse bit of shopping online. ——especially companies who insist on still using Hermes— —

Oh lord, I want that jacket!

Bloomed, if you're a size medium the Toteme Imbra Blazer is really nice and marked down to half price, unfortunately the shipping is a tad high with that shop. It has an elasticated back on the waist which means whether you wear it open or closed the fit is always flattering. 98% wool, better pics of it on this Australian site.

Have you tried Massimo Dutti yet? Always think their blazers are a good step up from Zara, albeit more classical. Uterque is also good to look at, see attached pic. Pic 1 is quite a dramatic blazer but I do like that the length makes it more versatile and it would look good with boatneck and scooped styles underneath. The aubergine leather overshirt (pic 2 & 3) is more a loose interpretation of a blazer but I think it could work for workwear if not in a too conservative environment and it could double up as a coat in milder weather.

mrshod, you can post a pic on here of your velvet suit and stab my eyes out with envy, today's velvet is nothing compared to the good stuff of yesteryear and we can all brainstorm on it, if you'd like.

Massimo Dutti clothes are so classy.
If only I were two stone lighter.

I really struggle to understand why the Zara group won't touch the plus size demographic. I know Zara now sells an XXL but I've never ever seen an item in that size, online or in store. If MD just expanded their size range with at one or two more sizes it would make such a massive difference for many. Weirdos.

mrshod my velvet blazer is vintage too (was my mum's) I haven't a hope in hell of getting into the matching skirt, though .

botemp the aubergine leather over shirt is stunning, I love it. I'm a size 14 but creeping up to a 16 sometimes, the result of 3 years of breast cancer meds. I can usually fit into a Zara XL for jackets but did ask for a size XXL in the Manchester store recently as it was a very fitted military style. The reaction of the assistant was pretty shocking and insulting, they don't carry that size in store although the size appeared on the ticket and online. Massimo Dutti could also do an extra size up and would sell them easily. Luckily I live in the north and it doesn't come onto my radar unless I'm in London. It's frustrating though as they have good designs.

We need a Bring Back Brown campaign. Black adds ten years to my face unless I’ve got a tan whereas brown knocks off five years.

Tried on a Uniqlo brown merino jumper on Friday and it was so flattering.

Off to France for work this week and made sure my hotel is near a Parfois branch!

An open leather jacket is the only black that gets anywhere near my face. My longish brown hair provides a good buffer if I don’t wear a scarf. Haven’t worn brown for years for some reason, I should try it.

Well now we're all jealous midlife. Hope you get a bit of people watching time.

Massimo Dutti clothes are so classy.

They are shocking quality though. They may look nicer than Zara clothes but they are equal in quality which doesn't justify MD being double Zara prices.

I disagree! MD fabrics are much better quality, lots more natural fibres. If was only allowed one shop for the rest of my life, it would be MD.

Wondering whether to fill my case with Parfois stoles....

I must be very unlucky then. My long sleeved knits from MD are fuzzy due to the wool balling. My shirts look old after just one wash. My shoes look beautiful but are incredibly uncomfortable. My silk tops look old and well worn after just a few outings. I shop far too much and am regularly sucked in by the nice styling and colours which suit my colouring. I have bought from there for years and years and last season bought eight or nine items. Not one of them still looks smart despite me wearing them a couple of times at most. I am completely turned off by their poor quality and have vowed not to purchase from there again.

Into
You are right about MD quality.
My silk blouses fell apart so quickly.
But the clothes look classy.
Again, I too ask Inditex why they don't do larger sizes in Zara and MD.
The market is there.

Are there Parfois shops in the UK ?
The Portugese brand has shops in Dublin.

I'm another who doesn't rate MD quality. Their linen feels like tissue paper, and probably holds up as well in the wash. The silk looks cheap. Not been impressed by construction either (sloppy seams etc).

It's fast fashion at mid-range prices.

I think the Zara/Inditex group is a very mixed bag quality wise.

From Zara I'd only ever contemplate their premium coats, the odd trousers, accessory, possibly denim, and some of the leather shoes (but wouldn't expect them to last long). Cotton dresses in summer can also be good. I also like their linen débardeurs but I've now found they sell the identical item at Stradivarius for about 20% less. I absolutely avoid the knitwear, anything silk as that has the fabric weight for lining clothes rather than being clothes, the cotton shirts are equally of too thin a fabric weight and buttons seem to project free far too quickly.

At MD I only really look at the tailored stuff and avoid almost everything else, it has similar issues as Zara above in other departments. The natural fabric items are of better quality but they're usually far and few between. Though it's not my style I have to say in terms of things looking far more expensive than they are, the bags at MD are unsurpassed, they look many times more expensive than what they charge and they're all leather. The leather jackets can also be good at MD.

mrshod, I've heard similar about Zara's staff, they're both difficult with returns and extremely size-ist. Had a friend leave in tears over being told quite pointedly there was nothing in the shop for her at the entrance, she was coming to buy a gift for her boyfriend FFS! I have a troubled relationship with the Zara group, periods of boycott and then I find myself there anyhow. Contemplating another one though as they've been acting like right dicks in needing to get wrangled into signing that EU-Turkey treaty (or something similar between suppliers and the Turkish govt.) to avoid Syrian refugees being used as slave labour. Recently there's been the unpaid workers slipping in little notes of help that they haven't been paid for months. I get that it's a supplier issue and not directly an Inditex issue but it's representative of the whole chain as far as I'm concerned.